The 3D Flow around Embedded Super-Earths

Jeffrey Fung (UToronto) - September 15, 2014 at 12:10 pm

The flow of disk material close to a planet, at separations of order r_H, the
Hill radius, generates the largest transfer of angular momentum and mass
between the planet and the disk. This flow is well studied in 2D under the thin
disk approximation, which is appropriate for planets with r_H larger than h,
the disk's scale height. For planets of a few Earth masses or less, however,
they typically have r_H < h, and consequently one expects significant vertical
variations in the flow. Using our GPU accelerated hydro code PEnGUIn, we
perform 3D global simulations of an embedded 5 Earth mass planet, at a
resolution of 27 cells per h. Using a detail picture of the flow field near the
planet's orbit, we demonstrate that the 3D treatment for disk-planet
interaction gives rise to new, and potentially dominant, aspects of both
planetary migration and accretion.